Harry McGonagall: The Prophecy of Black
by Animalover205
Summary: Summery: What would have happened if Harry had been adopted by his favorite teacher at Hogwarts during his third year? How would his life have been different? Would his oldest allies stay with him? Would he gain new enemies? And how will his new family deal with the chaos that seems to follow him around? Find out in here. Rating: M, for mature themes, language and lemons in later
1. Chapter 1

Harry...McGonagall?

Summary: What would have happened if Harry had been adopted by his favorite teacher at Hogwarts during his third year? How would his life have been different? Would his oldest allies stay with him? Would he gain new enemies? And how will his new family deal with the chaos that seems to follow him around?

Rating: M, for mature themes, language and lemons in later chapters.

Pairings: [Harry P. Daphne G. Hermione G. Millicent B. Su Li.] Multi, Harem.

Warning: Trigger Warning, Verbal and Physical abuse mentioned.

(0) means notes.

Chapter 1

Welcome to the Family

Harry James Potter was sitting in a small, plain room deep inside the Ministry of Magic. He was tired, he was sore, and he needed a shower. Harry was in trouble, deep trouble, and he could think of no way to get out of it. Sighing he laid his head on the table and pulled the hood of his jacket over his head, if nothing else he hoped to be able to get a nap before his doom was pronounced. Nearly an hour later the door to his room opened and two people walked in, Harry blinked his eyes opened and looked up, nearly choking when he saw who had walked in.

The first was just a nameless, generic ministry wizard in dark robes and a fake smile plastered on his face. It was the second person, however, that caused Harry's moment of panic… Professor Minerva McGonagall, his favorite Professor, as well as the sternest, from Hogwarts

Before the ministry wizard could say anything, Professor McGonagall came around the table and pulled Harry into a tight hug; "Thank Merlin we found you Potter," she said. Harry was stunned; he had never thought that his Professor would ever show this kind of emotion for anyone, let alone him. When the hug ended, she met his eyes; "Now then, Harry, tell me what happened."

Harry sighed, this was when things were going to hit the fan and he knew it.

"I ran away, I couldn't stand it anymore, Professor," he explained; "Always being locked in a room half the size of this, day in and day out, only allowed out to do what the Dursley's didn't want to do. Only being fed cold vegetable soup once a day. And then there's the constant yelling... called things that even Malfoy wouldn't say," he looked down; "And then there was the beatings… sometimes several times a day."

McGonagall stopped him with a raised hand; "Beaten, Potter? What do you mean?"

Harry sighed and took off his jacket and shirt to show McGonagall what his Uncle was doing to him. His body was covered in scars, a lot of them McGonagall noticed were recent, his ribs were misshapen, and she noticed that he had a lot of bruises.

"What in Merlin's name..." both adults breathed.

"Unc... Vernon, he's been beating me since I was a child. Said that he "would beat the freak out of me". When I came back last year, he was furious that I hadn't managed to get myself killed," he sighed; "That's when the beatings started happening more than once a day…"

With every word that came out of Harry's mouth, McGonagall saw red… no, Gryffindor Scarlet. Someone had been hurting one of her Lions, and that simply would not stand! Harry, however, didn't notice this.

"A few weeks ago, Aunt Petunia came into my room. She had a large rucksack and a sleeping bag with her, she told me that Vernon went out to a pub and that now was my chance. She had a large bruise on her cheek and a split lip," he shook his head; "She helped me out the back door and over the fence… she even slipped me a couple of twenty pound notes to help get me to London."

McGonagall growled, literally growled. Not only did this man hurt one of her Lions, but he also beat his wife! That was it; she was going to kill him. The Ministry wizard, guessing where the Professor's thoughts were going, called for an Auror to come into the room. The Auror in question was a tall, bald, dark skinned man who introduced himself as Kingsley Shacklebolt. He pointed his wand at Harry and sifted through his mind, when he was finished he confirmed that what Harry had told them was true.

"Well?" McGonagall asked with a snarl; "What are you going to do about it?"

"Don't worry Professor, in five minutes time there will be an arrest warrant for him," he replied with a smile; "On charges of Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Child Endangerment, and Endangerment of Magic. All of which are felony offenses."

Harry caught Shacklebolt's attention; "I won't have to go back, will I?" he asked.

"No," the Auror replied with a shake of his head; "as of this moment you're a ward of the Ministry and will remain that way until we can find you a family to be placed with."

McGonagall shook her head; "I will Adopt Mr. Potter, if that will be acceptable to both the Ministry and Mr. Potter."

"A-are you serious Professor? That you would adopt me?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yes Harry, I'm quite sure that I didn't start speaking in Goblin, I did say that I would adopt you," she then gave him one of her rare smiles; "I know that you've never had a real family before and my husband died before I could conceive a child. I have no heirs and you have no parents. I would like for us both to change that, if you would be willing."

Harry smiled and clasped her in a tight hug and did something that he hadn't done since he was five, he cried. He cried in joy, cried in pain, cried in sorrow, cried in rage at the injustice of his parents being murdered, of having to leave the one person who had always done her best to protect him, of his uncle, a person who should have been protecting him, hurting him instead, and he cried in relief that he would never have to go back to that house again. Ever. And all through it, Professor Minerva McGonagall held him, her own eyes filled with tears as she heard the young boy release over twelve years of pain and misery.

Minerva McGonagall watched as Harry slept on the bed she had given him, he had been asleep for more than four hours, having passed out in her arms at the Ministry. The Healers called and informed her that Harry was suffering from extreme malnutrition, and sleep deprivation. She had to promise that she would take him into St. Mungo's when he woke up for treatments to heal his ribs and recent injuries as well as potions to help with the malnutrition. In the meantime, however, it was decided that what his body needed most was sleep.

Minerva sighed, while what she had told Harry was true, she didn't have either a child nor an heir of any kind, she didn't tell him that she had felt like a mother to him since he had come into her classroom two years ago. She hadn't know what Vernon was doing to him, or to Petunia, and now that she found out she felt sick to her stomach about what he had been put through.

Harry woke up a little while later, sitting up he looked around the room with wide green eyes until they landed on Minerva; "Professor-" he began but she held up her hand.

"Please, Harry, when we're in private I want you to call me Minerva, at least. I get enough 'Professor' nine months out of the year," she smiled.

Harry smiled sheepishly and nodded; "I guess you do...Minerva." he looked around: "Where are we?"

"The McGonagall ancestral home in Caithness, Scotland," she replied with a smile

"Scotland? Really?" he asked in surprise

Minerva nodded; "Yes." She looked at him seriously for a moment: "Harry, I...I have bad news."

Harry closed his eyes: "Aunt Petunia's dead, isn't she?"

"Yes, it looks like she had her head bashed in."

Harry sighed, and looked at the floor; "I figured that would happen... Vernon always beat her when I wasn't around or if she tried to intervene."

Minerva sighed, and frowned slightly at this. This twelve, almost thirteen year-old boy shouldn't have to know these things, shouldn't have to be so damn understanding of things like this.

Harry drew in a deep breath after a few minutes; "So, what can you tell me about the McGonagall family? I'm guessing that it's one of the Ancient and Noble houses?"

"Yes, it is Harry. Only a century or two younger then the Potter or Longbottom house's," she explained with a sad smile; "However, until your adoption goes through Harry, I'm the only McGonagall left."

"Until my adoption goes through?"

"Yes, until the adoption has been approved, you will be a ward of the family McGonagall. You won't be forced to go anywhere you don't want, plus you would have the protection of the Ancient and Nobel house of McGonagall," she said then stood; "Come on, we have to get you to St. Mungo's to get you healed up from what happened," she held out a hand to Harry; "We can get something to eat afterwards."

It wasn't until the next day that Minerva and Harry returned from St. Mungo's, they had kept Harry overnight, in a magical induced coma in order to spare him the pain of re-breaking his ribs and then healing them overnight. As they walked in Harry was pale and shaking, while he was spared the pain, his body was still put through the trauma of this. He was also ravenous; they had poured three bottles of healing potions down his throat, most to heal the internal damage that was done, but the remaining potions were to simply increase his appetite and make sure that he could eat.

"Blitz, Coram," Minerva called with a smile; two house elves appeared at once. Both of them were tall for house elves, nearly three feet, and they both wore a tartan sash with the McGonagall colors on them.

"Mistress," they said as the bowed.

"Blitz, Coram, this is Harry Potter," she informed them, still smiling; "He's a ward of the family, and I'm trying to adopt him as my own. Treat any order he gives you as though it came from me," the two elves bowed again.

"Mr. Potter, Sir," they said as they bowed to him. Though both of them were just as eager as Dobby had been, they were certainly more...refined, and didn't allow their eagerness to show though as much.

"Now then, we're both hungry, so if you could please bring two breakfast's to the patio table, it would be most welcome," Minerva asked them. They both smiled and nodded before vanishing with the sound of whip cracks. Minerva led Harry toward the back patio of a large estate house, telling him the history of the McGonagall family, and simply allowing him to take in his new home.

The estate was quite simply the largest place Harry had ever been in other the Hogwarts, the Dursley's house would have fit into it several times over, and that was only on the first two floors of the four floor estate. The panelling was of a dark wood as were the floors from what he could see, the walls were lined with paintings, some of which moved while others were simply still like what Muggles would paint. There were also suits of armor (what was with old places and suits of armor? Harry didn't understand it at all), that were situated at almost every doorway.

When they arrived at the patio, Harry's head was spinning and they ate breakfast in silence, (Harry would never be sure what they ate), Minerva just smiled and let him have his time to think. When he was finished, Minerva smiled: "Now then, I want you to go to bed and then we shall go to Diagon Alley and get you some new clothes."

"Okay Minerva," he replied sleepily.

Harry met up with Ron and Hermione at Diagon Alley, Ron was looking for tonic for his rat Scabbers, and Hermione was looking for a pet of her own. When they both saw Harry they dashed over crying "Harry!" the first thing that Ron did was punching Harry across the jaw, surprising everyone there.

"Why didn't you tell me you great prat?!" Ron said before pulling Harry into a tight hug "Why didn't you ever say a bloody word, two years we've known each other and you never said one bloody word about what was happening to you!"

With each word he squeezed his best mate tighter (1) and said "You know that we would have taken you in in a heartbeat, you never would have gone back to that place, ever."

"That's alright Ron, I won't anyway," Harry replied as he hugged his best friend; "Professor McGonagall has taken me in as a ward," he stepped back; "She's even going to try and adopt me," he added with a smile both his best friends returned fully.

"That's great news Harry" Hermione said, the first words that she had said since the meeting, she walked over and pulled Harry into a tight hug as well before letting him go and asking; " What are you doing here?" Harry explained that they were shopping for him, new school supplies and clothing that actually fit him. "Well then, let's go find Professor McGonagall," Hermione said grabbing his hand and dragging him off down the streets.

Ron chuckled as he watched his two friends walk down the streets, he thought that they looked cute together, always had in his opinion, Ron just hoped that they got together soon, before he lost his mind.

Harry spent the rest of the summer getting his homework caught up and getting prepared for the next year's classes, practicing for Quidditch, spending time with Ron and Hermione and getting used to his new life. When he wasn't doing that, he was learning all that he could, (as a ward); of the McGonagall family and reading the books Minerva gave him to read. One day he was sitting outside polishing his Nimbus two thousand while talking to Minerva when Blitz appeared and told her that Mrs. Weasley was at the door along with Ms. Weasley.

When they were shown to the back yard, Molly and Ginny came running over to him for the typical Weasley hug before Molly turned to Minerva; "Thank you, Minerva, for taking Harry in. I wish we could have adopted him but the Ministry just passed a law stating that a family can only have seven children before they have to 'Hive-off' to form a kind of... branch family(2). And that goes against Weasley family law."

Minerva nodded; "I understand, the McGonagall's have always been accepting of other families laws," she smiled as she continued; "As long as you understand that the McGonagall family has no such law's in place." Molly nodded and the two women went inside, leaving a totally confused Harry and Ginny behind.

"Um, what were they talking about Ginny?" he asked her.

"All the Ancient and Noble houses have separate law's Harry," Ginny explained; "Laws that, while separate from the Ministry's, are recognized nonetheless," she shrugged; "The Weasley family law's state that we're not allowed to form a branch family, which would be a kind of servant family to the main one. No Weasley would do that to anyone."

Harry thought about it, then nodded; "I can understand that, I've been a servant, a slave, or near enough to one."

Ginny nodded, then sighed; "Harry, there's something we need to talk about," she said.

Harry blinked as something clicked into place, as long as he'd known Ginny she'd never spoken this much to him, and certainly not without blushing and stuttering. "What is it Ginny?" he asked.

"Do you remember when you saved me from the Chamber (3) Harry?" she asked with a sigh, when he nodded she went on; "When you did that, something called a ' Life-Debt' was created between us Harry. It means that, I'll always be indebted to you for saving my life. Literally. Like you could ask me anything and I could not deny you it, you could tell me to do something and I would have to do it or risk either my life or my magic."

Harry frowned even as he paled; "What are you saying Ginny?" he asked.

"What I'm saying Harry is that... for all intents and purposes… I'm your servant. Your slave should you wish it. Until the day I die or I save your life."

What!? No Ginny, no you're not. You can't be," Harry replied his eyes wide.

"I am, Harry. That's how Life-Debt's work," she sighed; "Dad already checked, it's on the records in both the Ministry and in Gringotts. There's no way to get out of it, our Magic have already recognized this."

Harry was so stunned that he dropped his broom; "This can't be," he said, stunned.

Ginny smiled sadly; "It is, Harry. It's real, legal, and magically binding."

For several minutes the only sound that could be heard was the wind blowing until Harry broke the silence; "Ginny, who else knows?"

"Mom, dad, the Goblins at Gringotts, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, and you," Ginny informed her crush.

"Alright," Harry nodded; "Can you keep it secret? Not tell anyone else?"

"If you told me not too, I would literally not be able too," she replied with a nod.

Harry shook his head and said " No, but I will ask you to keep this secret," he replied with a shake of his head; "Only bring it up if you feel it's important or if you feel that keeping it secret will harm either you or me."

Ginny nodded, in her mind she had decided that the second part was a hidden order, and could already feel her magic take hold and enforcing the terms of her perceived order.

"And... if you could act more normally around me, especially with your family around, that would really put my mind at ease," he asked the added; "I so don't want to explain that to Ron."

"No worries Harry, I don't want to explain that to him either," she replied with a laugh.

A/N: Hey all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try to get more out as I go along.

Notes:

(1): I've noticed a prolific number of stories on this site that take Ron so far outside of canon Character as to be practically unrecognizable. I've decided to keep him within canon as much as possible.

(2): I'm biasing this off of the Hyuuga clan from Naruto, my idea is that when a family reaches a certain size they have to form two groups, a main family and branch. For those who want an example I'll use Naruto again Hinata was main family, while Neji was branch.

(3): these events happened in book two, the Chamber of Secrets


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Dementor, Back to Hogwarts

The Hogwarts Express was just pulling out of the station when Harry and the others finally found a compartment that was almost entirely empty, the only occupant a man who was sound asleep. Harry looked at him and almost winced, he knew that he had looked like that when he was picked up by the Ministry a few months back.

As Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the compartment Ron looked at his best mate; "Harry, mate, do you think we'll finally have a quiet year?"

"Doubt it, this is Hogwarts remember?" Harry snorted.

Ron snorted and started to give his rat, Scabbers (1), some of the rat tonic that he'd picked up at the Magical Menagerie while they were in Diagon Alley. The poor rat had been sick since they had gone to Egypt. While he did this Hermione checked out Harry's new look, he now wore a pair of black shorts that reached just below his knees with cargo pockets on the sides, with a black shirt and red vest worn open over it that had a gold Gryffindor lion stitched into it on the back (2).

Hermione blushed slightly as she looked at this then quickly looked away. Harry was busy putting his bags away, and didn't see this. When they settled in, Ron and Hermione started to talk about her new pet, a cat named Crookshanks, who was large, ugly, and smart as hell. Harry's own pet, his owl Hedwig had gone ahead of him with Minerva to Hogwarts. Soon the train was fully underway, the storm that raged around them was intense and Harry was glad that he wasn't on a broom right at the moment and Ron was glad that they weren't flying his dad's car in this weather.

Before the train got to the station, something weird happened, the train stopped suddenly. Hermione looked around them, puzzlement clear on her face; "What's going on? We can't be there yet."

When the train carriage rocked and Ron muttered; "I think something's come aboard," in a quiet voice before the lights all through the carriage shut off at once.

Harry sighed and looked around; "Here we go again," he said as he pulled out his wand and lit it up, a few seconds later both Hermione and Ron's wands lit up too.

The door to the carriage rattled for a few seconds, opened and a long, pale, slimy-looking and scabrous hand reached through the doorway. That was all that Harry had seen before a wave of cold rolled through the compartment and, following right on its heels, darkness rolled over him and the last thing that Harry heard was a high-pitched woman's scream, and the last thought that went through his mind was for a bushy haired witch.

=/=

When Harry returned to consciousness the first thing he did was look to see if Hermione was alright. When he could see that she was fine, he let out a sigh of relief and then jumped when the door to the carriage opened and a tall, shabby looking man entered the compartment

"Ahh, you're awake," he smiled and held out a bar of chocolate to Harry; "Eat, it helps, it really helps."

Harry took the bar and looked at the man, he looked like he was a young man, but his hair was grey and he looked like he had been put through the wringer.

Ron looked at Harry and as if hearing the un-asked question said: "It was a Dementor Harry, one of the guards of Azkaban, the wizard prison."

Harry shook his head; "What was it looking for?" he asked.

"It was probably looking for Sirius Black;" the older man replied; "he's escaped from Azkaban recently. Didn't you know that?"

Harry shook his head; "No, my plate has been kind of full lately," he replied then looked up at the man and asked; "Who are you, if I may ask?"

The man smiled slightly;"That's right; I haven't introduced myself have I? I am Professor R.J. Lupin," he motioned to the chocolate bar in Harry's hand; "It's not poisoned you know," he added, almost as though he was teasing him.

Harry looked at the bar, blushed a little, and then took a small bite, even as he did so he found himself starting to feel better. Harry didn't know that he was even feeling ill until that moment. Before Harry knew it, he had finished the bar and was looking around the compartment. Ron was looking pale as Harry had ever seen, and Hermione looked as though she'd gotten an emotional working over.

"Hermione, Ron, are you two okay?" he asked, worry in his tone.

Hermione nodded shakily as Ron replied; "As good as can be mate."

Ron smirked inside, however, when he noticed that Harry had checked on Hermione first.

The man, Lupin, stood up and stretched his back and then looked at them all; "If you don't mind, I'm going to have a word with the driver. See if we can't get back underway."

=/=

When they arrived at the Castle, the whole place was in an uproar. It seemed like they weren't the only ones that were visited by the Dementors. Harry could see that several other students looked shaken and pale as he still felt. He also noticed that several of the teachers were in a right state.

Minerva was furious, Professor Sprout was anxious, and even Snape seemed to be worried.

"Harry," Hermione whispered; "Do you think that this is because of the Dementors?"

Harry nodded; "Yeah, I do. But I don't get why Snape looks worried. It seems like he would happen to like it."

Ron shook his head; "Let's just get to the Great Hall, I want to eat and get changed as soon as possible, I'm soaked through!"

=/=

The next morning Ron, Hermione and Harry were sitting together at the Gryffindor table for breakfast when Ginny came running up to them, a smile on her face as she sat next to them, and kissed her brother on the cheek.

"I'd heard about you helping with the Dementor, Ron, that was truly brave," she said with a smile as Ron blushed Gryffindor red.

"It was nothing," Ron mumbled, hoping that the food would show up soon.

His wish was granted as food showed up, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, tea, porridge and several other things. As they ate, their class schedules arrived, and Harry was pleased to see the three electives that he chose were there: Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Magical Symbology.

Hermione looked at the schedules; "Wow Harry, I figured that you would've taken Ancient Runes with me."

"I thought about it," Harry chuckled; "but I also wanted to see what Divination was like, and..." he grew contemplative for a moment; "There was something... I don't know... something about Symbology seemed...right somehow."

No one seemed to notice the almost lost look in Harry's eyes as he thought about Symbology, except for Professor McGonagall who was walking back by the table. She smiled inside as she thought about how good the Potters were at Symbol Magics.

=/==/=

A/N: Hey all, sorry about the short chapter, but I wanted to set up for the next couple of chapters. I hope you like it, and I wanted to say thanks to DevlinGrace for being my beta and putting up with me. Don't forget to review ;)

(1): Scabbers is really a rat in this story, not Pettigrew

(2): Think of Sora's costume from Kingdom Hearts 2


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Hermione's secret, part 1.

**Two weeks later** Harry walked into an empty class room, it was a few hours until curfew so he didn't need to use his invisibility cloak, for which he was greatful. As he closed the door, he hears a voice saying " Harry, are you alone?"

Without turning around Harry smiled and said " Yes Daphne, I am."

As he turned around he found himself enveloped in the arm's of Daphne Greengrass, a.k.a. the Ice Queen of Slytherin. The irony was not lost on either of them. The Ice Queen of Slytherin and the Prince of Gryffindor in a hug.

When the hug ended they stepped back and looked at one another, and Harry had to admit that he was surprised with what he saw, Daphne had grown up.

When they had last seen one another last year, Daphne was his height, with blonde hair that came to her shoulders and startling blue eyes. Now she was almost a foot taller then him, and she had cut her blonde hair so that it barely brushed her earlobes.

She had also started to fill out her robes. Harry definitely noticed that.

For her part Daphne was surprised with what her friend looked like. He was still short, but he looked a lot better then he had in the last two years, a lot more healthy. He also seemed happier as well.

" How have you been Harry?" Daphne asked. Concern in her voice as she looked at her friend.

Harry and Daphne had been friends since their first year at Hogwarts, during Harry's last trip to the mirror of Erised , he'd walked into a girls lavatory in order to avoid Filtch. While he was there, he came across a young Slytherin girl, who was crying.

In spite of the urgancy of the situation, Harry asked what was wrong, and that was how Daphne Greengrass and Harry Potter had first met, and ever since then the two of them had remained friends.

Harry grinned at her and said " Better then I can ever remember being, Daph."

Together they walked over to one of the dusty desks and started exchainging news of what had happened during the summer. Harry laughed when he learned that Daphne's younger Astoria was starting at Hogwarts that year, and hugged her in joy when he found out that she had gotten an owl of her own ( a Barn Owl she named Athena ), Daphne gasped in horror and revulsion as she heard what his uncle was doing to him that year, but hugged him tightly as he told her about Professor McGonagall taking him in as ward.

" Your kidding!" She said with wide eyes " Professor McGonagall? She took you in as a ward?" When Harry nodded she said " Do you know if she's going to adopt you?"

Harry shook his head " No idea, but if so, it'll be interesting." he then took her hands and kissed her fingers before saying " It's almost time for curfew Daph, we should get back to our common rooms."

=/=

**When Harry returned **to the Common room, he frowned as he looked around the room as he noticed that Hermione was missing. Again. As she had been every night since they'd been back to Hogwarts. Harry looked around and spotted Ron playing Percy a game of Wizards Chess and was, of course, winning by a land slide.

Harry chuckled as he saw Fred and George exchanging bets as to how badly Ron would beat their brother. Walking over to where his best mate was, by now, taking Percy's army apart. He leaned over and whispered in his ear.

" Hey Ron, where's Hermione?" Harry kept his voice low, so as to not disturb Ron's game.

" Don't know Harry, been thinking that we should find her tonight." he moved his rook to take Percy's queen off the board " After I finish with Percy that is."

Harry chuckled and looked over at the twins who were grinning and the older Weasly who sighed as he watched his army being destroyed. When the game finished a few minutes later, Ron and Harry headed out of the Common room and into the castle proper.

As they went along, the two of them discussed their homework. Ron, it turned out, seemed to like Care of Magical Creatures, in fact Hagrid seemed to think that he was a natural at it, seeing as their Hippogriff lesson showed that right out when he stopped Buckbeak from attacking Draco Malfoy.

When the arrived in the second floor corridor, they found someone that they had _not_ wanted to meet, Millicent Bulstrode.

Millicent was a large girl, not fat by any definition of the word ( Daphne had once confided to Harry that Millicent didn't have an inch of fat anywhere except her breasts ) but she _was_ large in the meaning of the fact that she was almost a foot taller then either of the Gryffindor's and was half as wide as Hagrid ( which is quite impressive ).

Turning her bright pink eyes, a trademark of her trollish heritage, as was her size, in their direction she growled out in her deep voice " What are you two doing down here?"

Ron gulped, he'd always found Millicent rather intimidating, which Harry found amusing since Hagrid was bigger then her. Harry chuckled and said " We're looking for our friend, Hermione Granger."

Millicent thought for a moment, then nodded and said " I can smell her, she's got my cat."

This made both Harry and Ron look at one another, neither of them had ever thought about the quarter Troll could possibly track people by their scents, but when Ron thought about it he figured that it was only natural. Troll's might not have much in the way of brains, but their sense of smell was matched by few bipeds.

Harry looked at Millicent and said " Um, okay then, can you help us find Hermione then?" he noticed how Ron looked at him with shock in his face, before he caught on that Millicent would probably be able to help them since she was also looking for her cat, which Hermione, it seemed, had with her.

Millicent paused to think for a moment, then nodded " Follow me."

=/=

**" But this is Moaning Myrtles Bathroom"** Ron said with a shocked look on his face, they had followed Millicent to the room where they had brewed the polyjucie potion the year before. As far as they knew, none of the Slytherin's had known about that, but none the less the Trollish girl had lead them to the bathroom.

Millicent nodded and said " Yes, but this is where the scent leads." she looked at the two boys, and growled slightly " Why is my cat's scent coming from the same room?" Harry sighed and said " I get the feeling we're going to find out." and opened the door.

The inside of the bathroom was much the same as Harry and Ron remembered it from last year, " At least the floor is dryer this time." Ron said with a slight chuckle, Harry shook his head and added " Yeah, there is that." they found Myrtle circling the ceiling, chatting with someone next to a sink, Harry gasped as he saw Hermione for the first time, truly saw her.

She was taller then he remembered her, almost Daphne's height, her bushy brown hair was longer as well, but the two things that really caught Harry's eyes first off were the ear's, and her tail. He was entranced with the color of her tail, a mix between her brown hair and Millicent's black furred cat.

He also noticed that her robes were filling out _Very_ well. He stopped still as he saw her, his jaw dropping with delight his brain seemed to shut off for a moment, especially when she turned and squeaked " Harry! Ron!"

Ron said " Bloody Hell, Hermione?" he didn't seem to be able to wrap his mind around the fact that one of his best friends was a Cat Girl now. She ducked her head slightly and Harry, without thinking, rushed forward and cupped her chin and lifted it to look into her eyes " Hermione," he whispered " Your beautiful."

Hermione blushed slightly as she heard this, locking her eyes on his, and feeling her heart kick into overdrive. " What did you say?" she asked " Please, say it again." Harry smiled, looking into what he thought were the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen, Golden with vertical slit pupils like a cat. " Your beautiful." he said, a little louder.

Ron was doing his best to not laugh in joy, but he _was_ grinning like a loon. Millicent looked between them all, then said in her rumbling tone " What's going on here?" she stepped forward and, before anyone could stop her, she sniffed Hermione's furry ears, then stood straight and said " Why is it you smell like my cat? What's going on here?"

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**They were all sitting in the bathroom floor**, they had just explained to Millicent about their adventures from the year before, and Hermione explained that the Polyjucie potion reacted badly with Millicent's cat fur. It turned out that Millicent's cat was a full blooded Kneezle, a magical cat that caused the magic of the potion to go haywire.

Hermione told them that Madam Pomphrey had taken her to St. Mungo's for examination, she sighed as she finished " I'm not human anymore guys," she looked toward the floor " the mixture of the potion and the Kneezle hair has made me a Nekomimi." when both Ron and Harry looked at her in confusion when Mellicent surprised them all by saying " It's Japanese for Catgirl, Nekomimi are magical creatures." at the looks of shock, she snorted " What? I find them interesting."

Hermione looked at Millicent and said " Um, it's just that no one would really expect that. After all, it's not that popul-" Millicent began laughing deeply and said " You mean because everyone thinks that I'm stupid?" she looked at them all and said " Trust me, I know what people think about me. And it's something that I encourage." Ron looked at the big girl and said " Why? I don't understand why you would want people to think you were stupid?"

Millicent grinned, showing that her teeth, while larger then human normal, were just as good as Ron's or Harry's. " Simple, I don't want stupid Prats like Malfoy to get any idea's." she shook herself and said " If people think I'm a stupid mountain of muscle, then people like Malfoy will leave me alone and not try to date me." Ron nodded his head slowly, then said " I can understand that, but you have to be careful of that, people like Crabbe and Goyle might just decide your their type." at this Millicent shuddered again and said " Yeah, didn't think of that."

Hermione looked at Millicent in a slightly funny way, then threw her arms around the Slytherin girl and said " I can feel that your a good person Millicent, and if your willing I would like to call you my friend."

This made Ron gag slightly, after all Hermione had never done or said anything like this before, and the idea of being friends with a Slytherin went against everything he knew to be right and proper. But Harry grinned and said " She's right, if your willing to be friends with a group of Gryffindor's, we'll be more then happy to be friends with you."

Millicent frowned for a moment, then smiled slightly and nodded " Very well, I've never been very big on the revelry between our house's. I'm willing if you are." Harry looked at Hermione, who nodded, then looked at Ron, who sighed, then nodded as well " I guess, after all if this year is anything like the last two years we'll need all the allies we can get." that night, with a ghost as a witness, history was made in Hogwarts, as a Slytherin student shook hands with Gryffindor's.

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** Over the weeks Harry **seemed to accel in his classes, but most especially with Magical Symbology. His teacher in that subject, a Wizard named Professor Inkler, seemed to think that Harry was in fact a prodigy since he seemed to soak up the knowledge that was given to him. When Professor Inkler met with Professor McGonagall during their weekly teachers meeting, he seemed to praise Harry for his skill, saying that he only had to be shown what a symbol did once to be able to do it again.

Snape, of course, scoffed at this notion. " Potter is an idiot, and it's only sheer luck that he even know's what he's doing."

McGonagall scowled at this and said " Severus, I recommend that you take that back, now. Harry is a ward of the McGonagall family, and I will not allow you to insult one under my care."

Seeing that this was going to lead to nothing good Dumbledor stood and said " Severus, I too, recommend that you do this. After all your's is the only class that he seem's to have trouble with." Snape scowled at this, but knew that the headmaster would not back his play on this one, and mumbled something vaugly apologetic. McGonagall growled slightly, but nodded as she knew that this was the best she would get.

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**Meanwhile Harry and the **other's were busy doing homework in the library. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Millicent were all sitting together at a table, working on the latest potions essay, when Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis ( her best friend other then Harry ) arrived at the table, grinning " So, Harry, deciding to branch out to other snakes too?"

Hermione and Ron both looked shocked, but Harry grinned and said " It just sorta happened Daph." motioning for the two other Slytherin girls to join them Harry and Daphne soon explained how they knew each other and why they had kept their friendship a secret. Hermione smiled and greeted them warmly, while Ron nodded and said " I can understand that."

When Millicent, Harry, and Hermione all looked at Ron in shock, he shock and shrugged and said " What? I can understand why they kept it secret, after all not everyone in Hogwarts is as undstanding as I am." Harry and Hermione both bust out laughing and Millicent just grinned. After a momment, Ron joined in too.

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four.

New classes and new powers.

**Before Harry and **the others knew it, it was nearly Halloween, and they had all decided that it was time to bring their friendships into the open. With Millicent it was already widely known since she had decked Malfoy for calling Hermione a mudblood. She had become something of a legend among their year, as not only did she stand up to the prince of Slytherin, but she had also managed to thrash his two bookends, Crabbe and Goyle.

It seemed that ever since she had found out about Hermione being a Nekomimi ( Cat girl, though they were keeping it secret ) Millicent seemed to have apointed herself as Hermione's bodyguard outside the Gryfindor common room. This surprised many, both students and professors. Another thing that surprised them all was that Hermione didn't protest this, in fact she often would wait for Millicent if they shaired a class together.

Harry was starting to advace quickly with Symbology, and so was Daphne who was also taking the class with him. Daphne was actually the only other student in the class who could, in fact, keep up with Harry, her being only a few points behind him in grades.

However, it was Ron who was making the biggest waves in school, and for several reasons. The first being that he was now applying himself in his studies, often studying late into the night. And while he wasn't anywhere near matching what Hermione was doing for work load, he was still showing vast improvement. Next was the fact that he was actually being friendly with both Tracy Davis and Millicent Bulstrode, both of Slytherin house.

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One saturday afternoon, Ginny came up to talk to Harry while he and Ron were playing Chess ( Ron winning of course ) and she tapped Harry on the shoulder. " Harry, can I talk to you for a moment please?" she asked.

Nodding Harry got up and followed her to a different part of the common room " What is it Ginny?" he asked, curious as he noticed that she looked more serious then he'd ever known her to look before.

" Harry, I just learned, the Malfoy's have a marrige contract with the Weasleys." she said " It's been in the families for nearly three centuries, but has never been active. I'm the first girl in almost as long for the Weasley family, and I just know that Lucius or Draco will find it and activate the contract."

Harry frowned at this " Why? What would it gain them to do that?" he asked, not understanding why the Malfoy's would do such a thing. Ginny sighed and said " Harry, come with me, I think it's time that you learned something about our world." she walked over to Ron and tapped him, whispering something in Ron's ear. He frowned " Are you sure Gin?" she nodded.

Leading Harry out to the grounds Ginny and Ron to an area that was mostly hidden from the Castle from Hagrids hut, and stopped. Ron sighed " Watch closely Harry." holding his hand, palm up, a ball of flame appeared in his hand, hovering about an inch above his hand.

Harry felt his jaw drop with shock as he looked at what he had thought to be impossible, even with magic. He looked between Ron and Ginny, his jaw hanging open. He asked the only thing that was in his mind at the time " How?"

Ron smirked as he looked at Harry and Ginny grinned and said " This is one of the things about our world that you've been kept in the dark about. All the old families have.." she paused to think about what she was going to say then said " Gifts, like this. The Weasleys have the power to create and manipulate fire." Ron nodded as Ginny spoke, then closed his hand and the flame extinguished.

Harry gulped and shook his head to clear it before asking " What...what's going on here guys? I mean, I've seen a lot of stuff since I came to the wizarding world, but I've never seen anything like that before." he sat down hard as he said this.

Ginny and Ron both sat with him before Ron spoke up " Harry, there's something you have to understand. When a wizarding family uses a particular type of magic for generations, they start to develop an...affinity for that magic. After several generations magic tends to...gift... them with the ability to use that magic without the use of a wand." he paused then said " I know some of the families and their magic's, the Weasleys, as you saw, can create and manipulate fire. The Malfoy's tend to lean heavily toward snake magics."

Ron thought for a second, then his eyes flew wide " Holy Crap!" he spat then looked at Harry before saying " Harry, I just thought of something." when Harry nodded he said " Harry, your the last of the Potter line, right?" Harry sighed then nodded, knowing that Ron knew this but was wondering what his best friend was going on about.

" Harry," Ron said " When your learning Symbology, you seem to catch it quickly don't you? The formula's and everything about them tend to come easily to you. You can see more then just a simple set of symbols when you use it, you can see the underlying connections and paths of magic that are a part of it, can't you?"

Harry was dumbfounded, Ron was right in that, out of all of magic Symbology was the easiest that he was learning, even more so then Defence Against the Dark Arts, or even flying. He could see the paths of magic that flowed through the Symbols and had even managed to create a couple of low level seals. He nodded at this and Ron continued.

" Harry, The Potter family was well known for their Symbology abilities, feared even for their seal's." he frowned and said " During the War against Grindelwald, he attacked the Potters directly. He feared what they could do, especially after the Goblin Rebellion of 1659, when twenty members of the Potter family managed to destroy almost an entire Goblin army."

Harry blinked and said " When did that happen? I don't remember ever reading about Potters being involved in that." Ron nodded

" That's because it wasn't mentioned in the histories here at Hogwarts, but the Weasly family histories tell of that battle, since we were there providing support for the Potters, along with the Longbottom and McGonagoll families."

Harry blinked again and said " The Weasly family histories? You mean you have a seperate history then what we learn here?" both the Weasleys nodded at this and then Ginny blew him away.

" Yes Harry, and we're pretty sure that the Potter family has a library, with history, too. Mum and Dad have been trying to find it for you for the last two years."

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Harry wasn't expecting to be called into Minerva's office that night, but when dinner was finishing she came up and said " Potter, please join me at seven o' clock tonight." Harry was surprised but nodded and finised his dinner.

At Seven he knocked on her office door and walked in as she told him too. Harry grinned as she drew him into a hug before saying " How have you been Harry? I know we haven't spoken much since we got back."

They sat down and started to tell one another about how their lives had been since they returned. Minerva, about the work she'd been doing and her filing the paperwork to try and adopt Harry. Harry, about the secrets he'd learned about the Old Families, and how, apparently, the Weasleys had been looking for the Potter family library and histories.

Minerva smiled and said " Really? Well, if they think the library still exists, then I'll help you to find it as well."

Harry blinked and said " Yeah?"

She nodded and said " Yeah. I didn't know that it might have survived, otherwise I would have looked for it myself."

Harry paused for a moment, then asked " Minerva, if the Potter's have been seal-masters for ages, and the Weasleys can use fire, what does the McGonagoll family do?"

Minerva burst out laughing and said " We can manipulate water." she waved her hand and the water from the nearby water jug jumped out and floated between her hands in an orb.

Harry gasped and blinked, he had never thought that anything could surprise him in the wizarding world anymore. But clearly he was mistaken. He looked at this and then made a thoughtful sound as he said " Seals, Fire, Water, Snakes, why hasn't there ever been a class about this at Hogwarts Minerva?"

She nodded and said " Because Harry, all the ' Gifts' are family lines, they are taught to our children when at home."

Harry sighed and said " But I didn't have that option."

Minerva nodded and said " Very true." after a moment she said " Come to my office once a week, and I will start to teach you."

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End file.
